A message from Ken Diaz - MEC President

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This week United Airlines released the first quarter (Q1) earnings report, beating Wall Street’s expectations for not only growth, but for profit. United reported first-quarter net income of $147 million, diluted earnings per share of $0.52, pre-tax earnings of $184 million and pre-tax margin of 2.0 percent. Excluding special charges and mark-to-market adjustments, the corporation reported first-quarter net income of $143 million, diluted earnings per share of $0.50, pre-tax earnings of $179 million and pre-tax margin of 2.0 percent.

But the real story, our very real success, comes through the resilience of United’s people. That is, it comes from the commitment each of us makes every day to our profession, the passengers in our care and the company we all wish to see succeed.

And the challenges we faced are real. The adverse, never-ending winter weather, the grounding of the 737 MAX fleet, the early in the year government shutdown and the more recent closure of Pakistani airspace were taken on by all of us – head on. And, together, we successfully navigated these challenges and collectively drove the outcome to one that is nothing less than remarkable, outpacing many of our competitors.

While our year over year growth is impressive, we still face a number of challenges not the least of which is our overall performance as it compares to some of our closest competitors. While in no way intending to diminish the excellence of our service or the cooperative execution of the day to day work by front line employees, there is much work to be done in closing the gap between our competitors in order to secure our collective future.

Our success as an airline reflects our cooperative, coming together as a work group with a shared set of values and a commitment to passenger service that is second to none. This week during the Spring 2019 Regular Meeting of the United Master Executive Council, we elected our Negotiating Committee as we prepare for Section 6 bargaining. There were many exceptional candidates who, on their own time and at their own expense, came forward to submit their Willingness to Serve our combined membership for a variety of positions. We are grateful for this interest and we plan to work to increase Membership involvement in Union initiatives as we work together to achieve our collective interests.

Over the course of the next week, many of us will observe the most important and oldest festival in the Christian religion celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ while others of us will observe Passover, the major Jewish spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. While the celebrations are foundationally different, these religious observances are based on hope, renewal and the season of spring. Hope, as they say, springs eternal. We have much to look forward to as we continue our work together.

On behalf of the entire United Master Executive Council, whether observing one or both of these significant religious holidays with your family or, as a result of your professional commitment, making it possible for others to join their families for these celebrations, know that you are appreciated not only for your professional efforts, but also for your daily successes. Have a safe holiday weekend.

Sincerely,

Ken Diaz, President